Coke-oven-door machine



L. A. SANFORD. COKE'OVEN DOOR MACHINE Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET APPLICATION FILED rzsQz. 1920.

L. A. SANFORD. COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1920.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- L. A. SANFORD.

COKE OVEN DOOR MACHINE.

APPLICATION'HLED FEB. 2, 1920.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

[72/ 2/6 rwor UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS A. SANFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN COKE &CHEMI- CAL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COKE-OVEN-DOOR MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. *7, 1920.

Application filed February 2, 1920. Serial Hey-355,817.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, LOUIS A. SANFORD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicage, in the county of- Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Coke-Oven-Door Machines,of which the following is a specification. 1

The present invention has to do with improvements in coke oven doormachines that is, machines that are used for handling the doors of cokeovens and like apparatus. While the features of the invention are verywell adapted for the handling of doors for coke ovens and the like,still they may also be used with advantage for other purposes.Therefore, I do not intend to limit the use of the features of thepresent invention to the handling of coke oven doors, except as I may doso in the claims.

I will state, however, at this point that inasmuch as machines embodyingthe features of the present invention are particularly intended for thehandling of coke oven doors and the like,'I have chosen to illustratethe features of invention as used for this purpose, and will, therefore,describe a particular application of the present invention to such use.

The coke oven doors are generally very heavy and cumbersome. It iscommon practice to seat the doors into end openings or jambs .in theends of the oven, and in order to insure a comparatively gas-tight jointand one which is capable of resisting the comparatively hightemperatures encountered, it is a common practice to lute the doors whenin place with'clay or mud which is packed in. around the joint betweenthe door and jamb. In a short time this luting material becomes hard andforms an effective seal. When the door is to be removed, it is oftennecessary to apply a very large force not only on account of the weightof the door itself, but also on account of the presence of this lutingmaterial. The additional force necessary to break the seal of the lutingmaterial may run into the hundreds of pounds. In order to reduce theforce or power necessary to be applied to the door so as to withdraw itfrom the oven, it

- is necessary to reduce the force required to break this seal. presentinvention is to provide a machine or apparatus which will withdraw thedoor One of the objects of the provide a construction of machine whichwill so handle the door as to break the seal by a shearing actioncommencing at one end of the door and'traveling along the edges of thesame to the other end.

Another feature of the invention-has to do with the provision of amachine of such constructlon that as the door is moved away from ortoward the oven opening, the lower end of the door will be held highenough above the platform or deck which is ordinarily provided adjacentto the lower ends of the ovens in order to thoroughly clear saidplatform or deck and any obstructions or materials which wouldordinarily be found thereon.

Another feature of the invention has to do with the provision ofimproved means for taking the load of the door on to the door handllngapparatus. In this-connection, I will state that it is customary toadvance he door handling apparatus into position adjacent to the door,and in so doing, unless the operator is very careful in his manipumovedinto position adjacent to the door and makes contact with the door, saiddevices may yleld under spring pressure or the like,

to whatever extent is necessary to take up the strain and prevent thecreation of unnecessary and dangerous shocks.

. Other objects .are to generally improve and simplify an apparatus ofthis type, and facilitate-the operation of the apparatus and handling ofthe doors.

Other objects and uses of the invention will appear from a detailed.description of the same which consists in the features .of constructionand combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figurel shows a side elevation of a construction ofapparatus embodying the feaopen the oven;

' dotted lines the approximate final positions of the upper and lowerends of the door, and also showing by curves the approximate lines oftravel of the upper and lower inner and outer edges of the door.

In the various figures I have-illustrated the features of the presentinvention, as the same may be used in a machine adapted to travel alonga bench of coke ovens, the machine being suspended from suitabletrackways or rails which are supported along the upper portion of thebench. It will be understood, however, that as far as the carriagemechanism is concerned, it would be possible to make use'of any suitableform of carriage whether suspended or otherwise,

and in some cases the use of a carriage might be entirely dispensedwith. Y

Bearing the foregoing in mind, the back plate of a coke oven door isillustrated by the numeral 5. For purposes of convenience it is shown ashaving a pair of lifting hook sockets 6 and 7 by means of which 1t maybe'engaged by the door handling apparatus. The use of such sockets isillustrated simply as a. matter of convenience, since any other suitableform of door engaging device might be used if desired. The buck-stay atone side of the oven door is shown by the numeral 8, and 'the buck-stayat the other side of the door by the numeral 9.

The door handling apparatus will usually be provided with a carriageadapted to travel along the bench of ovens into position adjacent to anyparticular door. In

such cases, there may be provided a pair -of tracks 10 and 11 extendingalong the upper portion of the bench of ovens and supported by the beams12 and 13. lVhen the carriage same may comprise a pair of i downwardlydepending yokes 14 and 15 reis used, the

'spectively, the upper portion of each yoke being provided with a pairof lugs 16 and 17 respectively. An axle 18 extends between the lugs 16,and an axle 19 extends between the lugs 17, flanged wheels 20 and 21being provided on the ends of said axles and adapted to ride on therails 10 and 11. A

motor 22 is provided for causing the carriage to travel along the railsin either direction under control and through the me- (hum of gearing orthe like 23.

this figure also showing by If desired, rollers 24 may be journaled onthe side faces of the yokes 14 and 15 adapted to engage the under facesofthe beams 12 and 13 so as to prevent any possible sidewise tilting ofthe carriage.

Suitable reinforcement frame members are provided between the yokes 14and 15. In the'construction illustrated, these take the form of a pairof X-shaped' frame mem bers 25, only one of which appears in Fig.

1. Any other reinforcement bars or frame members may be provided asnecessary.

Thelower portions of the yokes 14 and 15 are bifurcated as clearly shownin Fig. 2, so that each one of them has a pair of separated arms 26 and27. The lower ends of.

these arms are preferably inturned, and provide seats upon which aremounted crosswise extending tracks or rails 28 and 29. These rails lieat right angles to the direction of travel of the carriage. They serveto partially support and guide the door carrying element which will nowbe explained in detail. 1

1 This door carrying element includes a suitable framework adapted totraverse the carriage and also provided with means for engaging thelifting hook sockets 6 and 7- or other suitable elements on the door. Inthe particular construction illustrated, thedoor carrying elementincludes a .pair of .side frames 30 and 31 of relatively light but rigidconstruction. The side frames have their upper ends joined together'at aproper separation by cross pieces 32, and their lower ends are-alsojoinedtogether at proper separation by cross pieces 33. Consequentlyboth of the side frames30 and 31 and assoiated elements move a s"a'r1g1d unit.

Between the forward central portions of the side members 30an'd 3,1 is ashaft 34 on the ends of which are the pinions 35 and 36. Loosely mountedon this shaft are the flanged wheels 37 and 38 which travel on thetrackways 28 and 29 respectively. Above each of the pinions 35 and 36and rigidly secured to the arms 26 and 27 respectively are the straightracks 39 and 40 with which the pin ions 35' and 36 mesh. It will,therefore. appear that upon rotating the shaft 34 in a counter-clockwisedirection when viewed as in Fig, 1, the door carrier frame will becaused to move backward away from the oven itself. V

In order to prevent the door carrying frame from swinging down about theshaft 34 as an axis. and in order to control the movements of the doorcarrying frame. I have provided a pair of links 41 and 42 which areattached to other points on the door carrying frame sufficiently removedfrom the'position of the shaft 34to secure such control without unduestrain on the parts. The upper ends of the links 41 and 42 are pivotedto the upper portiomof the 1,se1,1se

and 46 respectively.

Theparts are so arranged and relatively positioned that when the doorcarrying frame stands in the initial'position of Fig. 1, wherein it isready to take the load of the door preliminary to removing the door, theframe members 30 and 31 stand in practically upright position, the links41 and 42 being swung over toward the oven. When,

thereafter, the door carrying frame is moved away from the end of theoven, it will be evident that said frame will be caused to first tilt soas to swing its upper end rapidly away from the upper end of the oven,and after the links pass the vertical position, the door carryingframewill tilt back toward the vertical or upright position, and if theoperation be continued through a sufficient distance, the door carryingframe will finally be restored to the vertical or uprightposition, butwill then stand at a distance away from the oven equal to the amount oftravel of the shaft 34 and wheels 37 and 38 along the trackways28 and29. I

Between the upper portions of the frame members 30 and 31 is a leverbeam or the like 47. the front end of which is provided with a hook 48adapted to engage the upper lifting hook socket 6 on the door. The lever47 is pivoted to the door carrying frame through the medium of a link49, the upper end 50 of which is pivoted to the door carrying frame andthe lower end 51 of which is pivoted to the lever 47. Consequently saidlever 47 may not-only rock about a horizontal axis coincident with thepivotal point 51,-

but may also swing back and forth with respect to the door carryingframe itself. A pin52 serves to limit the amount of this outward swing,and a spring 53 around said pin tends to swing the link 49 outward so asto hold the hook 48 fully projected toward the door.

In the lower portion of the machine is an other lever'arm 54, the frontend of which has a hook 55 adapted to engage the lower lifting hooksocket 7. -This lever 54 is suspended by a link 56, the upper end 57 ofwhich is pivoted to the door carrying frame and the lower end 58 ofwhich is pivoted to the central portion of the lever 54. A limit pin 59and spring 60 tend to maintain the hook 55 projected toward the door atthe extreme limit as determined by the, pin 59 in a manner similar tothat explained with regard to the lever 47.

A link 61.joins together the levers 47 and 54, so that they arecompelled to rock on their pivots '51 and 58 in harmony. The connectionsbetween the upper and lower ends 62 and 63 of the link 61 with thelevers 47 and 54 respectively, may be so placed 'in relation to thepivotal points 51 and 58 as to constitute a parallelogram, so that thehooks 48 and 55 will travel in perfect harmony.

cans are providedfor lowering the outer end 64 of the lever 47 so as tocompel the hooks 48 and 55 to take the load'of the door. In theparticular construction illustrated, said means takes the form of a wormand screw device including a hand wheel 65 and a column 66 pivoted onthe connection 33 so that by rotating the hand wheel the outer.

end 64 of the lever 47 will be drawn down. Means'are provided forrotating the shaft 34 in either direction under the control of theoperator so as to compel the door carrying frame to travel back andforth toward and from the oven. The particular construction illustratedfor this purpose includes a beveled gear 67 on theshaft 34, a shaft 68havinga beveled pinion 69 on its front end meshing with the beveled gear67 and having a beveled gear 70 on its back end, a shaft 71 having abeveled pinion 72 on its lower end meshing with the beveled gear 70 anda beveled gear 73 on its upper end, and a motor 74 driving the beveledgear 73 through the medium of a beveledpinion 75.

The door carrying frame normally stands with the wheels 37 and 38 aslight distance back of the front ends of the trackways 28 and 29. Whenthe hooks 48 and 55 are to be engaged with the lifting hook sockets 6and 7, the door carrying frame is advanced toward the door a suflicientdistance to. accomplish this purpose, and the springs 53 and 60 at suchtime serve to take up any shock occasioned by the engagement of thehooks with the door sockets. In order to prevent any possibleover-riding of the wheels 37 and 38 on the tracks 28 and 29.-

I have provided the stops 76 on the front ends of the track. Similarstops 77 serve to prevent any over-riding when the door carrier is movedin the reverse direction.

-It is believed that the operation of this apparatus will be thoroughlyunderstood from the explanation so far given, but in order that thenature of the movement of the door itself may be more readily understoodand appreciated. I have illustrated in Fig. 3 the form of the curveswhich will be performed by the upper and lower inner and outer edges ofthe door itself when being moved toward and from the oven. Forthispurpose, I have also shown diagrammatically the door jamb 78 into whichthe door normally seats. The curves 79 and 80 show in a general way themovements performed by the lower and inner and outer edges of the door,and the curves 80 and 81 show in like manner the movements of the innerand outer edges of the upper end of the door. The full line position ofthe door in Fig. 3 shows the door at an intermediate position,

and the dotted lines in said figure illustrate end is withdrawn verymuch more rapidly than the lower end of the door, so that the tendencyis for the luting material to be a broken or disengaged by a shearingaction commencing at the upper end of the door and traveling downwardlyalong the jamb. For this reason, the amount of force or power necessaryto withdraw the door is substantially reduced as compared to anarrangement in which the door would be withdrawn by a straight outwardpull; and it will also be observed from this that during the earlystages of the door removal away from the jamb, the lower end of the'door is raised rapidly a considerable distance above its originalposition, after which it moves outwardly 'in a rapid manner whilemaintaining substantially such elevation.

and afterward and finally the lower end of the door is moved down andstraight out, so that the door finally comes back into' a positionsubstantially parallel to its original position but removed from thedoor jamb or oven the desired distance. I v

Vhile I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of thefeatures of my present invention, still I do not limit myself to thesame, except asl may do so in the claims. 1

I claim:

1. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a pluralit ofdooropenings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a trackwayextending along the upper portion of the bench adjacent to said dooropenings, a carriage traveling on said trackway, means for propellingthe carriage along the trackway, a pair of bracket arms downwardlydepending from said carriage and spaced apart an opening at right anglesto the direction of the trackway, horizontal tracks on the lowerportions of said arms and at right angles to the bench of ovens, a doorcarrier between the bracket arms aforesaid, wheels on the forwardportion of the same adapted to travel on said trucks toward and from theoven openings, link connections between the rear portion of the doorcarrier and the upper portion of the carriage, the pivotal points of thelower ends of said links lying closer to the oven openings than thepivotal points 6f the u per portions of the links when the door carrierstands in the extreme forward position, whereby when the door carrier ismoved backwardly away from the door openings, the rear portion of thedoor carrier is initially depressed by said links. and suitable devicesin conjunction with the door carrier for supporting a door thereon,

the lower end of said link to providebetween them and for compelling thedoor to travel in harmony with the door carrier as determined by saidlinks and said tracks, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of dooropenings on one side, and a door for each opening, of

a trackway extending along the upper portion of the bench adjacent tosaid door openings, a carriage traveling on said trackway, a pair ofbracket arms downwardly depending from said carriage and spaced apart toprovide between them an opening at right angles to the direction of thetrackway, horizontal tracks on the lower portions of said arms and atright angles to the bench of ovens, a door carrier between the bracketarms aforesaid, wheels on the forward portion of the same adapted totravel on said tracks toward and from the oven openings, a linkconnection between the rear portion of the door carrier and the upperportion of the carriage, the pivotal point of lying closer to the ovenopenings than the pivotal point of the upper portion of the link whenthe door carrier stands in the extreme forward position, whereby whenthe door carrier is moved backwardly away from the door openings, therear portion of the door carrier is initially depressed by said links,and suitable devices in conjunction with the door carrier for supportinga door thereon, and for compelling the door to travel in harmony withthe door carrier as determined by said link and said tracks,substantially as described.

3. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of dooropenings on one side, and adoor or each opening, of a trackway extendingalong one side of the bench of ovens adjacent to said door openings, acarriage mounted to travel on said trackway, spaced apart brackets onsaid carriage providing between them an opening at right angles to thedirection of the trackway. horizontal tracks on said brackets, and atright angles to the bench of ovens, a door carrier between saidbrackets, wheels on the forward portion of the door carrier-adapted totravel on said tracks toward and from the door openings, a linkconnection between the rear portion of the door carrier and the carriageat a point of greater elevation than the link connection to the doorcarrier. the pivotal point of the lower end of said link lying closer tothe oven openings than the pivotal point of the upper portion of thelink when the door carrier stands in the extreme forward positionwhereby when the door carrier is moved backwardly away from the ovenopenings. the rear portion of the door carrier is 'initially depressedby said link, and suitable devices in conjunction with the door carrierfor supporting a doortherememes on and for compelling the door to travelin harmony with the door carrier as determined by said link and saidtracks, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of dooropenings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a trackwayextending along one side of the bench adjacent to said openings, acarriage adapted to travel on said trackway, a bracket on said carriage,a door carrier adjacent said bracket, a horizontal guiding connectionbetween the forward portion of the car rier and the bracket andcompelling such portion of the door carrierto travel in a horizontalline, a link connection between the rear portion of the carrier and apoint on the bracket at greater elevation than the link connection tothe carrier, the pivotal point of the link connection on the carrierlying closer to the oven openings than the pivotal point of the linkconnection to the bracket when the carrier stands in the eX- tremcforward position, whereby when the door carrier is moved backwardly awayfrom the door openings. the rear portion of the door carrier isinitially depressed by said link connection, and suitable devices inconjunction with the door carrier for supporting a door thereon and forcompelling the door to travel in harmony with the door carrier asdetermined by'said link and said.

track, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of dooropenings in one side, and a door for each opening, of a trackwayextending along the side of the bench adjaccntto said openings, acarriage adapted to travel on said trackway, a door carrier inconjunction with the carriage, cooperative means between the frontportion of the door carrier and the carriage compelling the frontportion of the door carrier to travel in a substantially horizontalline, cooperative means between another portion of the door carrier andthe carriage compelling the upper end of the door carrier to tiltrearwardly with respect to its lower end as the door carrier isinitially moved away from an oven opening, and suitable devices inconjunction with the door carrier for supporting a door thereon and forcompelling the doorto travel in harmony with the door carrier,substantially as described.

6. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of dooropenings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a trackwayextending along adjacent to the side of the bench of ovens, a carriageadapted to travel on said trackway, a door carrier in conjunction withsaid carriage, suitable devices in conjunction with the door carrier forsupporting a door thereon and for compelling the door to travel inharmony with the door carrier, and suitable connections between the doorcarrier and carriage compelling the upper portion of the door carrier totilt rearwardly with respect to the lower portion of the door carrier asthe door carrier. is initially moved backwardly away from an ovenopening, and for thereafter compelling the lower portion of the door,carrier to swing rearwardly with respect to the upper portion of thedoor carrier as the retrograde movement of the door carrier from thedoor opening is continued, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of ovenopenings on one side, and a door for each opening,

of a trackway extending along adjacent to the side of the bench ofovens, a carriage traveling on said.trackway, a door carrier inconjunction with said carriage, and suitable devices in conjunction withthe door carrier for supporting a' door thereon and for compelling thedoor to travel in harmony with the door carrier, and suitableconnections between the door carrier and carriage Jfor compelling thelower front edge of the door carrier to initially rise and then moverearwardly and for compelling the upper front edge of the door carrierto ini tially move rearwardly away from the oven opening as the doorcarrier is moved rearwardly with respect to the carriage, substantiallyas described.

8; The combination. with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality ofoven openings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a travelingcarriage adjacent to said side of the bench of ovens, a door carrier inconjunction with said carriage, and suitable devices in conjunction withthe door carrier for supporting a door thereon and for compelling thedoor to travel in harmony with the door carrier, and suitableconnections between the door carrier and carriage for compelling thelower front edge of the door carrier to initially rise and then moverearwardly and for compelling the 'up )er front edge of the door carrierto initia ly move rearwardly away from the oven' opening as the doorcarrier is moved rearwardly with respect to the carriage, substantiallyas described.

9. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality of ovenopenings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a carriagetraveling adjacent to said side of the bench, a door carrier inconjunction with said carriage, means for moving the door carrier withrespect to the carriage toward and from an oven door, suitable hooksprojecting forwardly from said carrier. toward the oven door and adaptedto engage the door, and yielding connections between the hooks to moverearwardly under compression with respect to the door carrier,substantially as described.

10. The combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality ofoven openings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a carriageadapted to travel adjacent to said openings a door carrier movablymounted on said carriage and adapted to move toward and from the ovendoor, and yielding devices on said door carrier adapted to engage anoven door to support the same, said yield'ng devices being yieldablewith respect to the door carrier under compression, substantially asdescribed.

11. The'combination with a bench of coke ovens having a plurality ofoven openings on one side, and a door for each opening, of a carriageadapted to travel adjacent to said openings, a door carrier inconjunction with said carriage and movable toward and from a coke ovendoor, a pair of hooks on said door carrier, and means for raising andlowering said hooks with respect to the door carrier for engagement withan oven door, said hooks being yieldlngly mounted with respect to thecarrier, substantially as de-' scribed.

LOUIS A. SANFORD

